Carrier for full-fashioned knitting machines



Sept. 3, 1946. V R. J. SCHELLER 2,407,103

CARRIER FOR FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 25, 1944 Patented Sept. 3, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARRIER FOR FULL-FASHION ED KNITTING MACHINES Rudolf Johannes Scheller, Hickory, N. C. Application hugust 23, 1944, Serial No. 550,735

2Claim s. (01. 66-126) This invention relates to a full-fashioned or straight knitting machine and more specially to a special type of carrier adapted to be used on any type of full-fashioned knitting machine.

In full-fashioned knitting machines there are usually anywhere from 18 to 32' units connected together in end to end relation and all operating from a common source of power so that 18 to,32 stocking blanks can be knitted in one operation. It often happens that a defect occurs in one of the stocking blanks being knitted and if the operator severs the yarn from the carriers for that unit to preventany more knitting by the movement of the carriers while the other stocking blanks are being finished, it means that these carriers will come unthreaded and at the termination of the knitting of all of the stocking blanks in the other sections of the machine, it is then necessary for the operator to rethread all the carriers in the defective unit, which slows up production and as a result it is a'commonpractice to continue the knitting of the defective stocking, thus resulting in wasting of a great quantity of yarn in knitting out to completion a defective stocking.

A stocking is knitted usually by first knitting the welt, then the after welt or shadowwelt portion, then the main leg portion, then the heel portion with high splicing, heel, sole, and too. All of these operations require different yarn for which separate carriers are needed. If any damage occurs in any part of the stocking blank in one of the units of the machine the operator will have to top on in order to avoid cutting out his other carriers and re-thread them before starting over the knitting of a new set of stocking blanks in all of the units. It very often happens that some of the operators are not skillful enough to top on at all, and are unable to see the loops due to fine gauge machines and the fine yarn used. Therefore, the general practice is to continue knitting the defective stocking, thus wasting all of the yarn knitted into this defective stocking blank.

It is an object of this invention to provide a carrier adapted to be used in full-fashioned knitting machines, in fact, all carriers which will be employed for holding the welt yarn, the shadow welt yarn, the leg yarn, the reinforcing yarn for the heel pocket and for the foot portion so that all of these carriers can have the yarn therein severed from the fabric and clamped into position on the carrier so that no yarn will be Wasted for that particular unit and the carriers will continue to move back and forth, but the remainder 2 of the unit will not be knitted where a defect has occurred in the stocking blank for theunit.

It is, therefo-raan object of this invention to provide a carrier having a clamp means thereon for clampinglyand releasably holding the yarn in such a manner that it can easily be engaged by the:p liers of the operator and brought down to normal position with respect to the needle, without re-threading.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a full-fashioned knitting machine showing my type of carrier in operation;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of one of the carriers on an enlarged scale, being drawn practically full s1ze;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the carrier shown in Fig, 2 and looking at the right hand. side of Fig. 2; I i v Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view made On a enlarged scale and taken along the line 4-4 of Fig.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view made on an enlarged scale and taken along the line 5-5 and Fig. 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, numeral I0 indicates the needles of the full-fashioned knitting machine mounted in a manner such as shown in Patent 2,181,836 to Smetana of November 28, 1939. A full-fashioned knitting machine is equipped with a plurality of movable carrier bars I I on which a plurality of carriers l2 are mounted, these bars being disposed one behind the other and traveling across the machine relative to the needles in a definite plane so as to miss each other as they pass each other in their travels. These carriers have yarn led thereto which is deposited in a position where the yarn will be engaged by the needles during a knitting operation. These carriers have a portion 13 provided with holes [4 through which suitable bolts I5 are passed and also pass through the carrier bars H for holding the carriers on the carrier bars. The carriers also have a hole Hi through which the strand of yarn I1 is led and the yarn is then led through a hole 18 to a lower side of the carrier and up throughthe slot l9 and then traverses a roove 20 cut in the upper or forward surface of the carrier and passes through The structure thus far described is conventional and I have added to this conventional structure by providing a leaf spring member 25 secured as at 26 with its free end projecting over a portion of slot l9 and I have also provided a projection 26 which is extended across the lower surface of the carrier and is welded, riveted, or otherwise Secured a ans ers g e inth lower p rt of the lower surface of the carrier so that its outer surface will be flush with the lower or rear surrace of the carrier and on the front surface of this portion 26 I have secured a leaf spring member 2'! by means of suitable rivets Z8 provide a second clamp.

In operation when a defect occurs in a stocking blank, the operator can sever the yarn from the fabric and pull it forwardly in the carrier to have a sufficient end to lead the yarn directly backwards or reversely, leading it up the carrier and passing it beneath the leaf spring member, 25, where it will be clampingly held between the front surface of the carrier, I2, and the leaf spring member, 25. Then the yarn is brought down and passed between the projection, 28, and the second leaf spring clamping member, 27, Where it is again clamped in position and then the yarn being held by the pliers during all of this operation is then severed and knitting can be resumed, and if all of the carriers were cut out the fabric could be removed from the needles and no further knitting would occur, but in any event if all of the yarns are severed from the fabric and tucked into the clamp as shown in the drawing and all of the other units would continue to operate to knit their stocking blanks but this particular unit having a defect in the stocking would not consume any more yarn until the operation of knitting all of the stocking blanks was completed.

It is thus seen that this will result in great saving of yarn such as nylon, silk, and the like, which is very expensive, and by cutting out any further use of yarn in a defective stocking blank and retaining the yarn in the carriers so that they do not have to be re-threacled at the end of the knitting operation, a great amount of yarn will be saved and much labor avoided in re-threading the machine if it should be disconnected to save this yarn.

It is highly important that the yarn be led directly back over itself to the first clamp, 25, so as to prevent it from protruding beside the carrier where it would be damaged or broken by other carriers or sinkers.

It is assumed that any machine equipped with my improved carrier would be provided with suitable conventional tension means to keep the yarn taut in the Qarriersat all times during the knitting operation.

In the drawing and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of my invention, and although specific terms are employed,

they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a yarn carrier for full-fashioned knitting machines having a tube in its tip portion through which the yarn is fed, said carrier having a laterally projecting portion, and a spring clamp on said portion around which the yarn can be secured after being severed from the fabric and reversely led from the lower end of the tube to the spring clamp to thus hold the yarn on the front surface of the carrier, and a' second spring clamp on the carrier into which the yarn may be placed after it has been secured in the first spring clamp.

2. A thread guide for full-fashioned knitting machines comprising a body having a longitudially x nd g g ve in its u per su f ce near s vIpwer end a d P in ed at the l er e d, w a e e te ding f m a oi t b l w t e low end of t e ro e h ough th poin e @1 9 o the ody. id bo aving a eaf s ring cl m ed 9n i upper ur a e a cent the u p d o h g oove and having a sec nd l a spring am secured n the u er surf ce 9 the b dy adjacent ne e of t e bo y and o e n in he q posited ec o t the firs sp i g lam a d b in d s sed be w n he first lam and said bore, whereby the thread pan be doubled ba k from th lo er end f the bor eneath t firs c amp and th n ed be e h h sec n lamp to th thread at tw spac d po n s- 

